Comfort
by Kamikoko
Summary: Just a little oneshot that came to me while I was rereading Wicked. Oneshot, book universe. Implied Gelphie. Romantic Gelphie or Friendship Gelphie? You decide.


**A/N**: This is just a little oneshot that came to mind while I was re-reading Wicked…

You know, the part where Glinda and Elphaba are traveling to the Emerald City.

Enjoy.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Wicked…I do own a lot of Wicked related merchandise though!

**------------ Comfort -----------**

Their travel was brutal; the two were cold and miserable almost all of the time.

By day they traveled by overcrowded, third-class carriages; by night, they spent the night in cold, musty rooms above inn kitchens.

Most times, their meals were whatever they could scrounge up with what little money they had brought with them from Shiz.

And, more often than not, that wasn't much.

A few crusts of bread, watery soup with few, if any, soggy lumps of vegetables, and maybe an overripe piece of fruit if they were lucky…

These conditions did not bother Elphaba.

She was used to third-class carriages, as her father had always spent the most money on her sister's special transport.

The mustiness of the rooms they stayed in was nothing compared to the places she had to sleep in when she lived in Quadling Country.

And as for the food, well, she wasn't that picky to begin with. Food was food.

However, the green girl knew this was a far cry from what her friend was used to: private carriages, five-star hotel rooms, and gourmet meals.

Knowing this just fueled her disbelief that Glinda continued to put up with the terrible conditions to travel with her.

Every morning, the green girl half expected to get up to meet the carriage, and have the blonde tell her that she was going back to Shiz.

But she didn't…every morning, no matter how early; Glinda would always awaken beside Elphaba and go with her to claim their seats…

And every evening, she would follow Elphaba into one dingy inn after another, up to the musty attic rooms, and into the lumpy bed.

Tonight's room wasn't as bad as some they had had in the past week.

It wasn't as musty as most, and the bed had few lumps – or at least not enough for the two to complain about.

Glinda had fallen asleep fast enough, at least.

The blonde was curled into a loose ball beside Elphaba, and was moving closer to the green girl in her sleep – towards her warmth.

Elphaba was lost in thoughts of how short a time they had until they reached their destination.

The Emerald City…to meet the Wizard – _the _Wizard!

She knew what she needed to do: inform him of Dr. Dillamond's research. But how?

Did she just waltz up to him and spill it out? Or was she supposed to wait for him to say a certain phrase before saying anything…

Glinda had finally moved close enough to Elphaba to touch her, and nuzzled her face into Elphaba's arm.

The green girl felt her friend's touch and started from her thoughts.

She looked to see that it was just Glinda, and relaxed a bit.

No matter how many times the blonde touched her, she just couldn't get used to it, no matter how much she _wanted_ to.

The green girl turned her head towards the slumbering Glinda beside her and smiled.

She looked so innocent while she was sleeping. Almost like a little angel…

_Stop it Elphaba!_ The green girl chided herself for thinking those sorts of thoughts again. _She's your friend…just leave it at that before you scare her away._

Elphaba wasn't sure when she began to feel so strongly towards the Gillikinese girl.

But she did know that it was much more than just a feeling of friendship…or at least her subconscious knew it.

The day of Ama Clutch's funeral, when Madame Morrible had talked to her, Glinda and Nessarose…

After their meeting, Glinda nearly fainted. Elphaba reached out to catch her.

Not knowing why, she felt a feeling of rage when she wouldn't wake up at first. She scolded the blonde in panic – fear even…

"Come on Glinda – you've got better better brains – come on! I love you too much, snap out of it, you idiot!" 

It'd slipped out that day. "I love you too much…" 

Her deepest darkest secret had slipped out, in front of Glinda, Nessa, Nanny…thankfully they had thought nothing of it.

A reaction to the stress of the meeting with Morrible, perhaps – the remark meant nothing.

But it meant so much more than nothing…it meant everything.

It meant the truth. It was the truth…

Elphaba sighed, breaking off from her reverie to find herself on her side, facing Glinda.

One of her hands had found its way to the smaller girl's waist, and was clutching it softly.

The other was lightly brushing Glinda's blonde curls from her face.

In her sleep, the blonde reached out her arm and draped it over Elphaba's stomach, holding her close as she slept, almost like a big green teddy bear.

The green girl did nothing, she just let her body fall limp in the sleeping girl's arms.

And that night, for the first time since the two had left Shiz, Elphaba slept through the night in comfort.

In the comfort of her best friend's arms.


End file.
